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ILO Research Paper series

ILO Research Papers promote evidence-based analysis of policies that help improve employment and social outcomes. Submissions, of 8,000 to 10,000 words, should be sent to the editorial board for internal and external peer review.

This paper uses the United Nations Global Policy Model (GPM) to assess the impact of increases in minimum wages on the South African economy. The results indicate that higher (relative) real wage growth rebalances national income, and the labour share increases since relative wages rise and employment is roughly maintained.

This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of how trade and trade policies shape job creation and destruction across countries in the context of a globally fragmented production, by considering manufacturing and services jobs separately. The analysis takes into account not only tariff and non-tariff barriers to goods trade, but also barriers to services trade.

This paper looks at the notion of work historically and how new meanings have enriched this notion over centuries. It then analyses the importance Europeans give to the concept of work, and examines the future of work in the coming decades in the light of three broad scenarios, which are competing to present a mid-term view of the future of work.

This paper looks at one of the main drivers of technological change, digitalization and how it will impact jobs. Taking the case of Germany the paper argues that smart automation might not lead to overall job losses but considerable shifts in the structure of employment with regard to industries, occupations, skills and tasks.

This paper presents evidence on the number of jobs in global supply chains for 40 countries, and explores in detail whose demand these jobs depend on in terms of countries and sectors. The paper documents the rapidly increasing number of jobs supported by production linkages between emerging economies, and provides evidence on the so-called servicification of manufacturing. Wage shares drop when a sector increases its participation in global supply chains as a supplier.

This paper examines the factors that have contributed to the level of inequality and its changes over time in 13 selected G20 countries in order to address this at the policy level. The results show that labour income is the most powerful factor contributing to inequality in all countries under analysis. Transfers and benefits are most important factors contributing to reducing inequality.

This paper examines how the emergence and change of the fragmented cross-national production system affects social upgrading in developing countries, focusing on the impact of private governance on labour conditions and workers’ rights. It also discusses the role of private voluntary standards in governing labour relations in GSCs, and their limitations and tensions with buyers’ purchasing practices.

This paper assesses the reference to CSR commitments in trade and investment agreements and finds that CSR language is relatively weak in terms of obligation, precision and delegation. Emphasising the potential to use the mechanisms that are provided in these agreements to activate and follow-up CSR commitments, it looks at what the implications could be for states, business and workers, and the potential ILO involvement.

This paper develops a framework to study the impacts of labour market institutions in the context of a DSGE model. The paper reveals that between 1970 and 2003, changes in labour market institutions had only a limited impact on the volatility of output, inflation and unemployment.